Keller catches up, now leads Jets' offense
Dustin Keller runs a reception past Courtney Greene during the first quarter. (Sept. 18, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
OAKLAND, Calif. -- It doesn't matter which defender is staring down Dustin Keller, trying to get a good read on where the Jets' rising star of a tight end is headed. Keller is sure he'll get the best of them.
"I've always been extremely confident," Keller said. "I don't want to say I'm even more confident than before because that's always been a mismatch for me. As long as I continue to see those looks, I think I'm going to get the better of those guys. And then when people try to shut that down, I think it's going to open things big-time for the guys on the outside.
"There's only so much you can do, and we feel like we have so many weapons that you can't shut down all of us."
So far, it's been Keller's turn to shine, and his play has been downright blinding leading into Sunday's matchup with the Raiders (1-1) at O.co Coliseum. The fourth-year pro has been a favorite of quarterback Mark Sanchez through the Jets' first two games of the season, shredding secondaries like a cheese grater.
Keller's 11 catches, 141 yards and two receiving touchdowns are tops on the team, but take a closer look at his numbers and it's hard not to notice what he means to the Jets' offense. Nine of his 11 receptions have resulted in first downs.
"I feel really good, not just about any stats or anything like that," Keller said. "I feel like Mark is really playing his butt off. I feel like he's going out there and reading things out and finding the open man. They matched me up on a linebacker last week, so more times than not, I was always the open man, especially with the guys on the outside being doubled.
"I have a big day -- and they try to shut me down and the guys on the outside have a big day -- as a defensive coordinator, you're like, 'What do we do?' "
Even in practice, Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine probably asks himself the same thing.
"He's a guy that whenever we went against the offense, it wasn't a real good call if we had a linebacker on him," Pettine said. "There are some times where certain safeties can't cover him, where you almost have to put a corner on him."
Either way, Keller is going to be a matchup nightmare for the opposition, and he gives offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer a pawn to use in his weekly chess games.
"He's just such an athletic guy," Schottenheimer said. "He's such a problem for linebackers and safeties."
He's vastly improved his blocking technique in the run game since his rookie season, too, making it more difficult for teams to simply assume the Jets are going to run a pass, which was the thinking early in his career.
"Everybody always knew I was going out for passes," Keller said. "I wasn't blocking very well and I wasn't involved in the run game, and I didn't know it very well, to be honest. Since then, I've been able to get bigger in that area and step up my blocking and they can't overplay me on one thing."
Keller likely is going to be paid among the league's elite at his position when he scores a new deal. He's scheduled to earn $1.052 million in base salary next season before becoming a free agent in 2013, and he recently changed agents, hiring power broker Drew Rosenhaus.
However, he isn't focusing on the potential dollar signs nor the numbers he's posted through two games.
"If I go out the next game or two games and have zero catches, but the offense averages the next two games 500 yards of offense, who cares?" Keller said. "We're playing well, we're moving the ball and we're successful, and that's all that matters."
